Monday, May 22, 2017

The 10 Most Effective Ways to Save Money

As a stay at home mom, I know how hard it can be financially. We skimp
on things. We plan carefully. We make things homemade. We coupon. We
have a budget and we try to stick to it. We appreciate the overtime work
that comes our way. The truth is, I don't think only SAHM are the only
ones who think about living frugally and saving money.

Saving money is hard when you do not know how to find ways to save.
Saving money can be challenging if you do not set your heart and mind to
it. We all know that little amounts here and there easily adds up.
Different families have tricks and tips. What worked for them, may not
necessarily work for you. The good news is that there are tons of ways,
effective ways to save money. From food to clothing to prescriptions

1. Cut your grocery bills in half. While this may be hard at first,
menu planning will definitely help. If you have time to do so, you can
clip coupons or download money saving rebate apps. Most stores nowadays,
have their own app and bar code. Some apps, you can accumulate points
for rewards. Shop in bulk if it makes sense.

2. Lower your electric or gas bill. We live in Southern California.
Inland Empire to be exact and summer season is really a summer season.
When it's hot, it gets really hot. I signed up for summer program from
SoCal Edison. What it is was, you adjust the thermostat when they notify
you of power saving days. You either adjust it to a comfortable setting
( 78 or 80 degrees) or avoid using major appliances at certain hours. I
must say that I was pretty happy that we did that. Why? Because of all
the credits that we accumulated for the fall season. Those credits
reflected on our electric bill. How about a $20 electric bill? Can't
complain.

ReduceTheElectricBill.com ( free) can help you also to lower your
electric bills. Or you can personally call your electric / utility
company. They might have some programs that you are not aware of.

3. Review and revisit your car insurance again. It will not hurt if you
make some phone calls. Ask for discounts, esp if you have a great
driving record. They might even have bundling discounts, where you can
bundle your home and car insurance.

4. Cut the cable. You can sign up for Amazon prime ( not just the perks
of free shipping but videos/shows too), Hulu or Netflix.

5. Learn a skill/ Baking perhaps, who knows maybe you can turn that
hobby into a home base business. Sewing classes, you just don't know how
creative you can be and it cam lead to sewing your own clothes, kid's
clothes, curtains and more.

8. Love to read? Shop second hand books. Shop book sales at your local library.

9. Pack snacks when your out and about. Trips to fast food even though
it is a value meal , easily adds up. Besides your body will thank you.

10. Save time and money withSingleCare App.
When you have school age kids. I'm sure you can relate to this. When
your kids come home sick, then everybody gets sick. Medicines specially
prescription drugs are expensive! Most specially if your family does not
have a great coverage (health insurance). Luckily , with SingleCare you can save up to 80% on services ( dental, vision) and prescriptions. The app is FREE. That's a great start right?

How does it work?

SingleCare's savings can be both found on their website, Itunes or
Google Play store (where you can also register to get a free card). It
saves you money by partnering with 35,000 pharmacies nationwide to give
consumers up to 80% savings on 50,000 different prescriptions. They also
partnered with over 200,000 providers – you can save up to 55% on
dental care. Based on my own personal experience, dental expenses are a
killer. In a bad way! It is just so expensive. With vision, they
partnered with Walmart Vision centers with 1,500 locations nationwide.
The prices are all negotiated, so you’ll be paying SingleCare and they
will pay the provider directly. Amazing right?

Here's a quick view from my phone.

.

I need some allergy medicine. Just fill up the needed info on the space provided.

and here was my search results. What I love about this is that not only
it saves me time from checking which pharmacy will carry the cheapest
medicine but it also saves me travel time.

I even tried a different medicine.

Once you decided on which pharmacy to go, click/select on it and just show your codes to the pharmacist.

I was also looking for a new dentist, I really love that they showed
the prices and services. I really do not like surprise charges and
amounts. I can prepare and save up for major procedures. Though we know
how it goes with dental check ups, so,etimes you really do not what
procedures are needed to get done until after the x ray. but at least
this way, a rough estimate will be a great help.

2 comments:

You have some very good tips here. The car insurance is something that I don't think people think about checking out for better rates. Your idea saving electricity sounds like well worth it. We don't have a plan like that but we can pick our electric provider and we have saved a lot of money by changing our provider. Thanks for sharing your tips. Tweeted and pinned!